This application proposes the study of the physiology, biochemistry and related ultrastructural aspects of two unusual, newly recognized genera of anaerobic, gliding bacteria--Capnocytophaga and Capnoflexibacter--which may be of widespread distribution and significance, as free-living saprophytes, and as host-related organisms. The studies outlined are designed to elucidate basic biological attributes of these pathogens, including (a) the nature of their potentially novel (atypical?) outer envelope components (lipopolysaccharides, extracellular polymers), (b) their surface layers by freeze-etch, scanning, and transmission electron microscopy, and the localization of selected enzymes thought likely to be located in the organisms' extensive periplasmic space (these surface layers and periplasmic enzymes may also be related to the pathogenicity of these bacteria), (c) a comparison of gliding and non-gliding variants in terms of items (a) and (b) as part of an effort to understand the basis of gliding motility in prokaryotes and (d) aspects of carbon metabolism and electron flow connected with how these physiologically unusual organisms make their living.